Dealing with Anxiety as a College Student

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noun
a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.
Trapped. Anxious. Silenced. Confused. Alone….
“Anxiety stops me from doing the things I truly want to do,” said a freshman from Ball State.
Many people think that anxiety is a state of mind that can be wished away when it’s more than a state of mind, it’s a mental health issue.
Anxiety is highly underestimated and is an entity that takes away many happy spirits. It rules over someone’s emotions and can ruin a whole day in a second. You can never fully understand the on goings of someone else’s mindset, but trying to unwind the thoughts of someone with anxiety is close to impossible unless you go through it yourself.
Within universities around the United States about 1 of 6 college students suffer from or have been diagnosed with anxiety according to a National Health Assessment survey in 2015.
As college students, we place so much pressure on ourselves to balance school work, social life and organizations along with the precious few minutes of sleep that we receive after we’re done slaving the day away.
The stress of all these priorities stacked on top of each other can be overwhelming and exhausting to manage; however, taking care of your mental health is one of the upmost important things to do.
I’ve had many moments where the pressure of school became too much to handle and I broke down and the overwhelming sensation of being a disappointment or alone was immense.
As hard as it is to deal with, anxiety won’t rule for long. So, if you feel the pressures of college or society are becoming too much to handle here are 5 things you can do to help rein in your anxiety.
Five Stress Relieves for Anxiety
1. Talk to someone. You should never try and bundle all your emotions up, telling someone how you feel could make you feel slightly better. You are never truly alone especially with the resources on a college campus. Utilize your resources like counselors, mentors, RA’s or even your friends, just don’t bottle up your feelings.
2. Accept you can’t control everything. Bad things will occur in life, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world. Even when bad things occur try not to dwell on the event, keep moving forward.
3. Challenge your negative thoughts. Ask yourself: How is this helping me? Is this making me feel any better? Even though it’s hard to stop this type of thinking, it’s a vital step in dealing with anxiety.
4. Take a time-out. If you feel overwhelmed, take a break. Do something that pleases you or relaxes you. Just step away from whatever is causing you trouble.
5. Do your best. Nothing in life is truly perfect so why expect perfection? Accept that everything you do is good enough and so are you.